James Kilner
23 September 2024 1:45pm
Donald Trump doesn’t know how to stop the war in Ukraine, despite claiming he could end it on his first day as US president, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
In his harshest criticism yet of the Republican presidential nominee, the Ukrainian president also described Trump’s running mate JD Vance as “dangerous” and “too radical”.
“His message seems to be that Ukraine must make a sacrifice,” Mr Zelensky said of Mr Vance in an interview with the New Yorker magazine before he flew to the US to present his “Victory Plan” to the White House this week. “But I believe that we have shielded America from total war.”
Mr Vance has been criticised by supporters of Ukraine for pushing a peace deal that consolidates the Kremlin’s control over captured territory.
Mr Zelensky said such a deal would disrespect the sacrifices that Ukrainian soldiers have made, appease Vladimir Putin and encourage other dictators to invade their neighbours.
“Whichever president or vice-president raises this prospect, that ending the war hinges on cementing the status quo, with Ukraine simply giving up its land, should be held responsible for potentially starting a global war,” he said.
Mr Zelensky added that he had held more “positive” conversations with Mr Trump who he said had promised to continue to support Ukraine’s military.
Ukrainian officials have said they are concerned Trump would turn off the supply of weapons Joe Biden has approved for Ukraine, in an attempt to force Mr Zelensky to negotiate with Putin.
But the Ukrainian president insisted Putin could not be trusted and Trump, despite his public stance, would not be able to strike a quick deal to end the war.
“My feeling is that Trump doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how. With this war, oftentimes, the deeper you look at it the less you understand,” he said.
Kamala Harris in the lead
Mr Zelensky’s intervention in US politics comes with polls showing Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, building a slender lead over Mr Trump ahead of the election in November.
Mr Zelensky began his tour of the US on Sunday with a visit to a weapons factory in Pennsylvania producing 155mm artillery shells to be sent to the frontlines in Ukraine, telling employees that “the democratic world can prevail” because of their work.
He is due to meet Mr Biden in the White House on Thursday to present his “Victory Plan”, which he will also share with Ms Harris and Trump.
This “Victory Plan” comes at a crucial moment in the two-and-a-half-year war, with Russian forces slowly grinding towards key targets on the front line in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
At the same time, Ukrainian forces are digging in to defend their salient in Russia’s Kursk region.
The plan is likely to include strategies to keep Ukrainian forces inside Russia, as well as a push for permission from Mr Biden to fire Western-made long-range missiles at targets in Russia, according to media reports.
Sir Keir Starmer has tried to persuade Mr Biden to grant Ukraine this permission, but the US president has said he wants to hear Mr Zelensky’s “Victory Plan” before making a final decision.
Mr Zelensky didn’t divulge details of the plan during the New Yorker interview but he said that failing to back his plan would extend the war.
“We would end up with a very long war, an impossible, exhausting situation that would kill a tremendous number of people,” he said.
The Kremlin has said that if Mr Biden did allow Ukraine to fire US-made missiles into its territory, Russia would consider itself to be at war with Nato.
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